The head of the Directorate for Bilateral Relations with European Countries, Metodija Belevski, was the senior Foreign Ministry official who exerted political pressure on the decisions of the Joint History Commission, Alfa reported.

As “Alfa” has learnt from senior diplomatic sources in the Ministry, Belevski received instructions from higher instances in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his task was to influence what the members of the Commission should adopt as part of the common history with Bulgaria. The same sources say that Belevski was part of the delegation on the last visit of the Macedonian authorities in Sofia and is one of the links with the institutions there, which is confirmed by the official videos published on the Government channel three months ago.

“Alfa” was asked for an official position from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the information whether Belevski is the diplomat who was pointed out to have exerted political influence in the decision-making in the Commission, but also whether the Ministry will review the work of historians and take steps after the accusations of the Commission member Vanco Gjorgjiev, who resigned from his post.

The Ministry does not deny the information that Belevski is the diplomat who is directly related to the scandal published by Professor Gjorgjiev.

The Ministry has in no way been part of the Commission’s scientific work so far, much less in creating content within the Commission’s work… It’s worrying that the Commission’s work has apparently become the subject of day-to-day competition in an electoral context, jeopardizing the fragile substantial benefits of their work, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

And after Professor Vanco Gjorgjiev resigned from the joint Macedonian-Bulgarian commission for historical and educational issues, he received a threat from a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the phone, the “Pressing” news portal reported. According to the professor’s testimony, after announcing to his colleagues that he was leaving the Commission, he talked on the phone with the diplomat, who was trying to persuade the professor to reconsider his position and continue working due to the sensitivity of the political moment. But, since Gjorgjiev maintained his position, later the official called him again and threatened him directly with the words “I will personally take revenge on you for this.”

However, Professor Gjorgjiev believes that the “senior official” does not act personally, but that he is a transmitter of instructions and messages from higher instances.